As you read through your Bible (and you should do that once a year), you will notice that God reminds His people, especially when they begin to stray from Him or allow things in their lives that may cause them to fall or fail. In the Old Testament, He continually sent prophets to remind them that 1) He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt; and, 2) He had brought them into the Promised Land. They, apparently, often forgot those things.
In the New Testament, the Apostles used the same approach. They reminded the Christians that 1) God had sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to save them; and, 2) that salvation had a purpose, that they might live obediently and serve the Lord faithfully.
“This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.” [1 John 3:23-24]
What is our purpose as Christians? Is it simply to escape judgment? Is it to avoid hell? If that is all it is, we will go through this life unfulfilled. We might gain heaven, but we will not live up to all we are in Christ Jesus. We will fail to realize how abundant this life can be. I want to be all I can be now … I want to be faithful and obedient to the One who saved me.
God calls me His child. I pray I can live worthy of that title. I pray that my life will honor Christ Jesus my Lord in every way, not just in eternity, but in the here and now.
